Strait of Magellan

The Strait of Magellan (Spanish: Estrecho de Magallanes), also called the Straits of Magellan, is a navigable sea route separating mainland South America to the north and Tierra del Fuego to the south. The strait is the most important natural passage between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans but it is considered a difficult route to navigate because of the unpredictable winds and currents and the narrowness of the passage.

History[edit]

Pre-Columbian cultures[edit]

Discovery by Europeans[edit]

Accounts before Magellan[edit]

It was reported by António Galvão in 1563 that the position of the Strait of Magellan was previously mentioned in old charts as Dragon's Tail (Draco Cola): [1]

... he (Pedro) brought a map which had all the circuit of the world described. The Strait of Magellan was called the Dragon's Tail; and there were also the Cape of Good Hope and the coast of Africa. ... Francisco de Sousa Tavares told me that in the year 1528, the Infant D. Fernando showed him a map which had been found in the Cartorio of Alcobaça, which had been made more than 120 years before, the which contained all the navigation of India with the Cape of Good Hope. - Galvano - | Discovery of the World, sub ann. 1428.

Magellan[edit]

Ferdinand Magellan, a Portuguese explorer and navigator in the service of Charles I of Spain, became the first European to navigate the strait in 1520 during his global circumnavigation voyage.

On March 22, 1518, the expedition was organized in Valladolid, naming Magellan captain general of the fleet and governor of all the lands discovered, and establishing the privileges of Magellan and his business associate Ruy Falero. The fleet would become known as the "Armada de las Molucas" or "Fleet of the Moluccas". The expeditionary fleet of five ships set sail from Sanlúcar de Barrameda on September 20, 1519.[2]

The five ships included La Trinidad (100 to 110 barrels) under the command of Magellan; La San Antonio (120 barrels) under the command of Juan de Cartagena; La Concepción (90 barrels) under the command of Gaspar de Quezada (Juan Sebastián Elcano served as boatswain); La Victoria (85 barrels) under the command of Luis de Mendoza; and La Santiago, under command of Juan Rodríguez Serrano.

Magellan's ships entered the strait on November 1, 1520, All Saints' Day, and it was initially called Estrecho de Todos los Santos (Strait of All Saints). Magellan's chronicler, Antonio Pigafetta, called it the Patagonian Strait, and others Victoria Strait, commemorating the first ship entering it.[2][3] Within seven years it was being called Estrecho de Magallanes in honor of Magellan.[2][3] The Spanish Empire and the Captaincy General of Chile used it as the southern boundary of their territory.

Incorporation into Chile[edit]

Chile took possession of the Strait of Magellan on May 23, 1843. President Bulnes of Chile ordered this expedition after consulting the Chilean libertadorBernardo O'Higgins (1778-1842), who feared an occupation by Great Britain or France. The first Chilean settlement was Fuerte Bulnes, situated in a forested zone on the north side of the strait. Fuerte Bulnes was later abandoned, and in 1848 the city of Punta Arenas was founded farther north where the Magellanic forests meets the Patagonian plains. In Tierra del Fuego, across the strait from Punta Arenas, the village of Porvenir emerged during the Tierra del Fuego gold rush in the late 19th century.

Until the Panama Canal opened in 1914, the Strait of Magellan was the main route for steamships traveling from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific. It was often considered the only safe way to move between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, as the Drake Passage separating Cape Horn (the southern tip of South America) from Antarctica is notorious for turbulent and unpredictable weather, and is frequented by icebergs and sea ice. Ships in the strait, protected by Tierra del Fuego to the south and the coast of continental South America to the north crossed with relative ease, and Punta Arenas became a primary refueling port providing coal for steam ships in transit. Sailing ships, however, partly because of variable winds and currents in the strait, generally preferred the Drake Passage, as they had more room to maneuver there.

Features[edit]

The strait is approximately 570 kilometres (310 nmi; 350 mi) long and about 2 kilometres (1.1 nmi; 1.2 mi) wide at its narrowest point (Carlos III Island, west of Cape Froward).[4] The northwestern portion of the strait is connected with other sheltered waterways via the Smyth Channel. This area is similar to the Inside Passage of Alaska. South of Cape Froward, the principal shipping route follows the Magdalena Channel.

Toponym of the zone[edit]

The place names of the zone come from a variety of origins, many from Spanish and English, and from at least one native language, that is adaptations of the Ona language to the Spanish language phonology and spelling[8] like Timaukel (hamlet at the east side of Tierra del Fuego), Carukinka (the end of the Almirantazgo Fjord), Anika (a channel located at 54° 7’ S and 70° 30’ W) and Arska (the north side of the Dawson Island).

Magellan named initially the strait Todos los Santos[9] as he began the voyage through the west on 1 November 1520. Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor renamed it as Estrecho de Magallanes. Magellan named the island on the south side as Tierra del Fuego, which the Yaghan people called Onaisín in the Yaghan language. Magellan also gave the name Patagones (Big Feet) to the mainland Indians, their land was subsequently known as Patagonia.

"I never imagined seeing something so wild and desolate as those emerging dark rocks in the middle of the raging waves. To see these stormy craggy rocks was frightening. With a dim light on the horizon we could see large waves crashing heavily in the western part of the islands: a vision that hardly anyone can imagine ... "[12]

Tidal characteristics of the Strait of Magellan[edit]

On the Atlantic side, the Strait is characterized by semidiurnal macrotides with mean and spring tide ranges of 7.1 and 9.0 m, respectively. On the Pacific side, tides are mixed, mainly semidiurnal, with mean and spring tide ranges of 1.1 and 1.2 m, respectively.[13]

Navigation status[edit]

Article 35 of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea states that "Nothing in this Part affects: ... (c) the legal regime in straits in which passage is regulated in whole or in part by long-standing international conventions in force specifically relating to such straits". Article V of the Boundary treaty of 1881 between Chile and Argentina established a legal regime for the Strait of Magellan, and in a diplomatic letter to major shipping nations in 1873 Chile promised freedom of navigation through and neutrality within the strait.[17][18]

Gallery[edit]

Strait of Magellan

Barcaza Melinka at Porvenir port, providing daily service across the Strait of Magellan between Punta Arenas and Porvenir.